By Kylie Cutchall

Introduction: Picture yourself around a campfire listening to the long lost tales of a former slave.  As you listen to the story you ask the storyteller to please pause while you dash for your pen and paper anxious to write down every word that is spoken.  By the end of the conversation your mind is busting at the seams with questions waiting for the chance to be answered.  You rush to the editor of the newspaper with this awesome story that needs to be printed, but the information you have acquired will not be enough to write a whole article on.  So it is your duty to seek out the answers to the burning questions in your head.   

Content Area(s) and Grade Level: Third to Fifth Grade

NE Standards: Social Studies

 4.2 Students will identify and describe the past and present contributions of people, such as the Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, European Americans, and Asian Americans in Nebraska.

4.4 Students will compare and contrast daily life in the past and present, considering things, such as roles, jobs, communication, technology, transportation, schools, and cultural traditions.

4.12 Students will develop historical analytical skills

4.19 Students will demonstrate map skills by constructing a simple map of the North American continent, which will include the essential map elements of title, scale, key, directional indicator, and date.

4.24 Students will identify examples of the extension of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in American history and the contributions of Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, European Americans, Asian Americans, individuals, and groups.

Reading and Writing

4.1.3 By the end of the fourth grade, students will identify the basic facts and essential ideas in what they have read or viewed.

4.1.4 By the end of the fourth grade, students will locate, access, and evaluate resources to identify appropriate information.

4.1.7 By the end of the fourth grade, students will identify and apply knowledge of the structure, elements, and meaning of nonfiction or informational material and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.

 4.1.8 By the end of the fourth grade, students will identify similar ideas across a variety of narratives and stories.

4.2.2 By the end of the fourth grade, students will write compositions with a clear focus, logically related ideas, and adequate supporting detail.

4.2.5 By the end of the fourth grade, students will use self-generated questions, note-taking, summarizing, and outlining to enhance learning.

4.3.2 By the end of the fourth grade, students will make oral presentations that demonstrate appropriate consideration of audience, purpose, and information to be conveyed.

ISTE Standards

4.  Use general purpose productivity tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, remediate skill deficits, and facilitate learning throughout the curriculum. (3)

5.  Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, Web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3,4)

7.  Use telecommunications and online resources (e.g., e-mail, online discussions, Web environment) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities for the purpose of developing solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (4,5)

8.  Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem solving, self directed learning, and extended learning activities.

Integrated disciplines:

Social studies, language arts, technology

   Objectives

Students will be able to:

      Materials/Technologies

http://education.ollusa.edu/edtech/educ5354/testfile2.htm

Other materials are listed on the web quest and can be added at ones own discretion.  

Other unit materials and activities to be use din addition to this Web Quest can be found here!

     Procedures

        Springboard  

 A good way to start this lesson would be with a K-W-L chart. Have a list of the individuals to be researched and ask the students how much they know about the individuals listed and what they would like to know about certain individuals.  After students have completed the assignment return to the K-W-L chart and complete the final area of what they learned about the individuals.  

Books are always good ways to kick start a lesson and including one with the K-W-L activity would be recommended.      

            What teacher is to do

  The teacher should make the Web Quest easily accessible for the children before beginning this lesson.  He/she needs to also be available for students to refer to for questions and guidance while evaluating their efforts..  

Appropriate materials should be provided for the students to complete their culminating project.  This may require technology such as; computer, power point, video camera, video player, paper, markers, pens, crayons, colored pencils.  

            What students are to do  

Students will be broken into four different roles and be asked to conduct their research based upon the role they are assigned.  The four roles are as follows:

From that point on students will refer to the web quest for further instructions.  

       Closure

To bring this assignment to a close ask the children to share the information they acquired with the class.  This can be the time when students present their culminating activities. Return to the K-W-L chart to complete the final category of what you learned.  together the class can sing an exciting and fun song uncovered during the civil war era.           

       Assessment

 Students will be assessed using the rubric provided on the web quest. Students will also be assessed throughout the entire project based up on the way they gather and discuss information, write, design, create, rehearse, and present their newspaper or newscast.

    Explanation

  I chose this lesson because it gives the students a well rounded look at the different lifestyles and situations people endured during the Civil War era. This lesson also allows students various choices on how they want to present the information they are researching.  Other methods may also be added to accommodate other students. 

   References:

Web Quest: http://education.ollusa.edu/edtech/educ5354/testfile2.htm

Merryellen Towey Schulz, Ph.D.     College of Saint Mary          Spring, 2001

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